Chocolate Charlotte with berries

Chocolate Charlotte with different kinds of berries

Making tough decision by definition is never easy nor fun. And I never consider myself a specialist in this domain neither. For I am the type that would probably do a mini myni mo or draw lots in making crucial decisions :-). So yesterday when a good friend of mine asked for my advice on a career decision move, I knew it was way out of my league.

She's one of the talented and intelligent person I know. And for one, she would never occupy that VP post in a big shipping corporation if she'st not well deserving. But she wanted to quit and leave everything she has worked hard for for years. I listened to her most of the time, I knew she needed someone to listen to her. And when it was my time to talk I just told her not to make any hasty move at the height of our emotions that she will regret afterwards. She thanked me and felt relieved afterwards. I am really glad to be of help.

Well she's not called Charlotte, but I do hope this edition of my Friday Dose of Chocolate will give her some dose of encouragement and happy thoughts.

I'll be sending over this Chocolate Charlotte with berries to Susan of Food Blogga, the lovely host of Sugar High Friday, playing along with berries .

Chocolate Charlotte with Berries

about 22 pieces of ladyfinger biscuits
about 15 g of gelatine powder
about 1/4 cup of raspberry coulis
150 g of dark chocolate
25 cl of heavy cream (very cold)
25 g of sugar
some ice
half a cup of raspberry syrup (or any berry syrup)

Start by warming up in a casserole hlaf of the raspberry syrup then add the gelatine powder. Cut the fire and pour in the raspberry coulis, mix well. Melt the chocolate in bain marie set aside. Whisk the cold heavy cream (you can put some ice on it) to make your cream chantilly. Add little by little your sugar. Fold in delicately the melted chocolate and the raspberry mixture. Dip lightly your ladyfinger biscuits on half of the remaining raspberry syrup and assemble it on your charlotte mold. If you prefer you can also make smaller charlotte using ramekin. Line up your dipped biscuits on the side of your mold, then pour your chocolate raspberry mixture. Refrigerate it for 24 hours. Decorate the top with berries of your choice.

Some Charlotte facts:

Charlotte is a typical chilled dessert with sponge cake or biscuits. It is normally serve cold during summer. You can vary you charlotte by putting bavarian cream, purée with gelatin or even chocolate mousse. You can also do some savory if you want. Its origin is vague, some claim it originated from the English word "charlyt" which means a dish of custard. While others claim it was named after Queen Charlotte the wife of King George III.



Try my other berries recipes:

Mango Blueberry Opera Cake
Home-made yogurt with red fruits
Poached pears with wild thymes and raspberries

Mini Dacquoise Cake in Chocolate Cream Chantilly

Mini Dacquoise Cake in Chocolate Cream Chantilly,
nothing but the best for Mother's Day

Oh , l'amour d'une mère , amour que nul n'oublie!
Pain merveilleux qu'un Dieu partage et multiplie!
Table toujours servie au paternel foyer !
Chacun en sa part, et tous l'ont tout entier !"

-Victor Hugo

(Translation
oh, a mother's love, a love that no one forget, a wonderful bread that God shares and multiply, table always served the paternal home, each has his own share and all have a whole)

Last Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day in France. I know we are two weeks late compared to the rest of the world (are we?). And I have absolutely no idea why. So please don't ask me:-). Nonethelless, I was happy that I finally feasted my first mother's day. My husband offered me the two cookbooks I've been salivating for months now (I'll be posting about it probably this week) and I am so excited to start cooking from this book. But the biggest happening last weekend was the dinner party I organized for my mom-in-law. I took that opportunity to show my gratitude to her for all the wonderful things and all the love she's been giving me all this time. I always find it difficult to think what to buy as a gift for special people in our life for most often they already have all the material things they want and needed. And that was the case for my mom-in-law. So I just opted for something different. I concocted a very special dinner for her and I made a short movie of gratefulness (that's the reason I was quite busy the past few days, pardon me for not having a lot of time to drop by at your blog :-) ).

Just to give you an idea of what I served, here is the menu:

Apperitif:

Amuse-bouche of Southern Flavor (mini canapés, mini-croissant and crostini all garnished with flavors of home-made sundried tomatoes, grilled red pepper and sausages) served with Tropical Cocktail (mixture of fresh juices of mango, bananas, pineapple mixed with lychee liquor)

Entree

Seared Scallops with Duo Tartar of Mango and Asparagus, accompanied by an organic salad

Main Course

Roasted porc in wild thyme and rosemary served with orange butter sauce, accompanied by millefuille of gratin dauphinois and creme of artichokes

Dessert
Mini Dacquoise Cake in Chocolate Chantilly and orange salad in cannelle and mint

Mini Dacquoise Cake in Chocolate Cream Chantilly
(adapted from Pierre Herme)

Dacquoise
90 of hazelnut powder, 100 g of hazelnuts (you can replace this with any nuts you like), 100 g of icing sugar, 3 white eggs, 30 of granulated sugar

Preheat the oven at 165° celsius and grill a lit bit the hazelnuts. Let it cool and chop them evenly. In a separate bowl whisk the egg until it becomes stiff and little by little the granulated sugar. In another bowl combine the hazelnut powder with icing sugar, mix evenly; fold in this mixture into the whisked egg. Spread it over in a parchment paper about 1.5 cm thick . Sprinkle on the top the chopped hazelnuts. Bake it at 150° celsius for 20 to 30 minutes. Let it cool then cut it the shape you want.

Praline
100 g of crepe dentelle (any thin biscuit)
50 g of butter
40 g of chocolate

Crush the crepe dentelle using a rolling pin. Melt the butter and chocolate in bain marie. Mix evenly. Incorporate the crushed biscuit; spread this evenly on the top of the dacquoise. Put them in the fridge.

Chocolate Cream Chantilly
40cl of heavy cream
240 g of chocolate milk (you can use any type of chocolate)

Boil the heavy cream in a casserole. Cut the fire then add the chocolate. Mix evenly then put in the fridge for minimum of three hours. With the aid of electric beater, beat the mixture to make your chantilly. It will normally thicken after about five minutes of constant beating provided that the mixture is very cold. You can add an ice cube to facilitate the task. Spread over the chantilly over the cake.

Party Cakes : Daring Bakers Challenge

Triple layered Almond-Pistacho-Vanilla Cake with Chestnut Mousse Filling in Choco-butter cream Frosting served with its individual Chocolate Coated Strawberry

During my recent escapade in Philippines for holidays, I kept on wondering if I will have enough time to participate in DB’s challenge for the month of March upon my return. But when I’ve heard that Morven is sponsporing a Dorie’s Party Cake challenge I knew I couldn’t miss this on earth. Not that I’m good at it. In fact, baking cake is never my cup of tea but I have always love eating them (and who doesn’t). Cakes have been part of our daily lives specially during those important occassions. Although personally, I have never had my own cake nor blew its candles during my birthdays growing up. I don’t blame my parents for that. They were too poor to afford one in the first place. Anyways, I wonder how this all started, I mean preparing cakes for special events. I guess I have to google it up.

Care for a slice?

Morven was generous enough to give us liberty in expressing ourselves freely on baking this challenge. I must admit I drool on all those cakes other DBers have done. A certified chocolate and strawberry lover that I am, for this month’s challenge I give you my latest kitchen creation. Hold your breath (for the title is too long) : Squared triple layered Almond-Pistacho-Vanilla Cake with Chestnut Mousse Filling in Choco-butter cream Frosting served with its individual Chocolate Coated Strawberry.

For the Cake
2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
half a cup of chopped pistachio and almonds, vanilla extract

For the choco Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
150 g of bittersweet chocolate

Decorations:

fresh strawberries, chocolate sauce and cocoa powder

Getting Ready
Centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.
Put the sugar a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.
Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the three pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners. Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Choco-Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream. Remove the bowl from the heat. Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.
On medium speed, gradually beat in the melted chocolate, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.